A Billion-Dollar Profit Is Disappointing at Goldman Sachs

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs reported a $1.05 billion dollar profit, and net income jumped 77 percent from a year ago. But compared to analysts expectations, the performance has already been deemed several different varieties of what Dealbook called "a weak showing." Here's the reported earnings, via Bloomberg:

Net income climbed 77 percent to $1.09 billion, or $1.85 per share, from $613 million, or 78 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. That compares with the $2.30 per-share average estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Earnings fell 38 percent if one-time costs are excluded from the 2010 results.

Parsing the numbers, MarketWatch pointed to a "recent slump in trading activity [that] was expected to weigh on Goldman, which has in recent years garnered a significant chunk of revenue from trading." In an instant view, one analyst put the expectations gap in perspective to Reuters: "Obviously it's a disappointment. But it's one data point. I don't think the franchise has lost it's luster. Goldman was probably weaker than people thought."

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